Often, rabbit breeders try to make rabbit skins on their own at home, despite the complexity of the process. There are many recipes and methods for this purpose. Whichever of them you prefer, in each case it will consist of the stages of soaking, fleshing, pickling, tanning and fattening.
Necessary
- - pure water;
- - salt;
- - deck;
- - formalin;
- - glycerin;
- - soda;
- - willow broth;
- - soap.
Instructions
Step 1
The simplest, but at the same time, laborious way of making a rabbit skin is pulling. Dry the raw materials in a fresh-dry way (stretch the skin on a rule and leave in the shade until completely dry). Spray milk as if you were dampening the laundry while ironing. Rub the skin over the square centimeter with your hands. Your movements should resemble the process of removing dried dirt from trousers. Remove the films at the same time.
Step 2
Another method of skinning is chemical. To do this, you need some reagents. Twin skins can be made immediately after removal. If the process is postponed for an indefinite period, then it is preserved using the salt-dry method. To do this, you need to rub the skin with table salt, stretch it on a rule and dry it in the shade. On the second day, you need to shake off the remaining salt. If you make the skin in the winter season, then you can not rub it with salt, but simply freeze it.
Step 3
Start with soaking. Place the skin in a container of fresh water - it should float freely. Measure the volume of water used for soaking, as you will need the same amount of solution for future pickling and tanning processes.
Step 4
The raw material contains a large number of bacteria that multiply rapidly in solution. Antiseptics are used to suppress their activity. Add to one liter of water forty to fifty grams of table salt (one tablespoon), 0.5-1 ml of formalin, or 1-2 tablets of sulfidine (you can buy at any pharmacy).
Step 5
Prepare half a liter of decoction from birch, oak or willow leaves and add to the water. Usually, a rabbit skin is soaked in twelve hours. If this does not happen, make a new solution and repeat the soaking process.
Step 6
The next stage of dressing is fleshing. Spread the soaked skin on the deck. Scrape it with a blunt knife (steel brush, a piece of scythe), removing the remains of meat and fat, removing films. You should start with the tail, gradually moving towards the head. The direction of movement with fleshing of the lateral parts is from the ridge to the abdomen. After washing, poke the hair out with a stick, wipe the inside with a dry cloth to remove excess moisture.
Step 7
The next stage is pickling. Prepare a solution based on vinegar essence (one liter of solution will need 60 milliliters of 70% essence, thirty grams of table salt and 940 milliliters of water). Place the skin in this solution for five hours to four days (depending on the quality of the raw materials). To check its readiness, you need to take out the skin and bend it four times with the skin up. Squeeze the skin tightly, run your fingernail along the rib and release. If a strip remains at the place of the scratch, the process is not finished; if it disappears within 10 seconds, the pickling is completed.
Step 8
The next operation is lying down. Squeeze out the skins ripe in the pickle, put them in piles with their hairs up, cover with boards and place a load on top. Staying lasts no more than two days. Upon its completion, acid may remain on the scalp, which is neutralized with a soda solution (1 gram per liter of water).
Step 9
The last stage in the manufacture of rabbit skins is tanning. It can be titanium and chrome. Titanium tanning is carried out using a decoction of willow bark. Fill the container with willow bark along with small twigs, pour over and boil for half an hour. Strain the broth, add 50-60 grams of salt and cool. Place the skin in the solution for two to three days. Chrome tanning makes the skin tough, so the first option is preferable.
